r F ae a 
648 ' - UMBELLIFERAE. | Centella. 
2. CENTELLA Linn. 
Perennial herbs, usually growing in moist shaded places. Stems long, 
slender, creeping and rooting at the nodes. Leaves reniform or ovate- 
cordate. Flowers small, whitish, in simple umbels. Calyx-teeth obsolete. 
Petals entire, imbricate. Involucral bracts conspicuous. Fruit laterally 
compressed, orbicular in outline; commissure narrow. Carpels flat, each 
with five primary ribs and with prominent secondary ribs and reticulations ; 
the dorsal marginal and filiform. ! 
A small genus of about 20 species, found in both hemispheres. It is closely allied 
to Hydrocotyle, but appears to be sufficiently distinct in possessing conspicuous invol- 
ucral leaves, and in the carpels being furnished with secondary ribs and prominent 
reticulations. y. '- yew / ve A $ » Piou.te © hie Py, 152 
1. C. asiatiea Urban in Mart. Fl. Bras. xi, 1 (1879) 287.— Very 1% 347 
variable in size. Stems rather stout, much branched, creeping and rooting 
at the nodes. Leaves fascicled at the nodes, }-lin. diam., orbicular or 
oblong-reniform, cordate or almost truncate at the base, sinuate-toothed or 
nearly entire, glabrous or slightly pubescent ; petioles very variable in length, 
z-6in. or more, often laxly pubescent above. Peduncles short, 4—1 in. 
long, rarely more; umbels 2—4-flowered ; bracts 2-3, broad, ovate. Fruit 
$-% in. diam. ; carpels with about 3 stout ribs on each face, but often showing 
the secondary ribs when young, somewhat reticulated, margins obtuse.— 
Hydrocotyle asiatica Linn. Sp. Plant. (1753) 234: A. Cunn. Precur. (1838) 
n. 502; Raoul Choix (1846) 46; Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i (1853) 82; Handb. 
N.Z. Fl. (1864) 86; Benth. Fl. Austral. iii (1866) 346; 7. Kirk Students’ 
Fil. (1899) 190; Cheesem. Man. N.Z. Fl. (1906) 198. H. cordifolia Hook. 
Ic. Plant. iv (1841) t. 303. H. uniflora Col. in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xvii 
pd 9, ie u ’ Xe 
Sh T5726) Gz, 
NortTH AND SoutH Istanps, Stewart ISLAND, CHATHAM Is~LANDS: Abundant in 
moist places from the Three Kings Islands and the North Cape southwards, ascending 
to 2500 ft. October-March. Also in most tropical and subtropical countries. 
3. AZORELLA Lam. 
Densely tufted herbs, often forming pulvinate masses of considerable size 
composed of compacted branches covered with the imbricated remains of 
old leaves. Leaves entire or toothed or ternately or palmately dissected. 
Peduncles shorter than the leaves or scarcely longer. Umbels few- or many- 
flowered ; involucral bracts free or shortly connate at the base. Calyx- 
teeth prominent ; either small and acute or petal-like and deciduous. Disc 
‘thick and fleshy, often confluent with the base of the styles. Carpels sub- 
terete or slightly dorsally compressed, 5-ribbed, the lateral ones not close to 
the commissure. 
A species of about 50 or 60 species, chiefly found in Andine and Antarctic South 
America. The single species found in the New Zealand area has a wide distribution as: 
an Antarctic cireumpolar plant. 
1. A. Selago Hook. f. Fl. Antarct. ii (1847) 284, t. 99.—- Stems 
densely tufted, branched, forming large globular masses 1-4 ft. diam. or 
more, quite glabrous. Leaves alternate, imbricate, }-tin. long; petiole 
~ the length, very broad, membranous, closely sheathing the stem; 
blade much dilated, broader than long, closely appressed, concave, coria- 
ceous, 3-5-partite to the middle, upper surface furnished with several long 
stiff bristles; lobes spreading, oblong, acute or apiculate ; margins quite 
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